Chapter 792: December 15th: A Passion that Freezes the Spine
"Oaaaaaah!!?"
What was that shockwave just now!? Ugh, posture recovery is... no problem!!
"Saina! Disarm!"
"Acknowledged:"
Catching Saina—who had temporarily unequipped all of her bulky gear—mid-air, I land on the ground, grateful that the magic Overwerke had applied was still active.
"Is everyone alive!?"
"Ooh... It vibrates!!"
It's frustrating, but even someone like her is a valuable damage resource during combat, so I just settle for giving her a chop to the head.
"Those three who kept their distance are fine. What about Survival and Ur Idim-shi..."
Let's see? If they were blown away from their positions, they'd be in that direction... oh, there they are.
It seems Survival took a direct hit from that shockwave, but a player like him couldn't possibly be softer than me.. Catching sight of Yashirobird providing covering fire in sync with Survival—who is charging back in while tossing aside an empty recovery potion bottle—out of the corner of my eye, I figure I can't afford to slack off either and shift my gaze... There it is!
"Saina! Retrieve Areadbhair! And hand it over!!"
"Acknowledged:"
Damn it, having a board-reset move is a huge pain. Since its entire body is made of blades, I was carelessly assuming its main attacks would be charges. I knew an end-game content monster couldn't possibly be that half-baked, but still...
"Where the hell was that bastard hiding that..."
With a roar that literally seemed to tear through the wind itself, Tomahawk's tail sweeps across the plateau. That guy Survival was nimbly jumping to evade it, but conversely, that means even Survival doesn't want to try blocking it.
"Sunraku-san, the magic classes will proceed with the initial plan. Yashirobird-san will continue sniping... I'd like Saina-san to act as a decoy. How does that sound?"
"She doesn't need to attack, right? You heard him, Saina. I need you to focus entirely on evading. That thing absolutely has ranged attacks, so don't even think about trying to leverage a distance advantage."
"Acknowledged: However, this unit's intelligence may automatically calculate methods to leverage any advantages."
"As long as you don't let your guard down and get hit, you can fantasize about whatever you want!!"
I receive Areadbhair, which Saina had recovered, and dash forward all at once!!
"Yo, Tomahawk! You're looking a bit too edgy and punk for your own good, you bastard! I might as well shave those edges off and round you out completely!!"
Areadbhair is currently illuminated by blue flames, radiating an azure glow. There are four stages to Flame Sharpen, and blue is... the second one, if I recall. That means it's still just simmering. In that case, I'll make it much, much hotter... For starters, applying pine resin.
"All right!"
Carrying Areadbhair—which is now flickering and burning in a mixture of red and blue, turning purple—I perform a mid-air jump. It seems Tomahawk has also noticed my presence... no, Areadbhair's presence, but unfortunately for it, I'm not the top threat right now.
"Nuaaah!!"
It seems that even the great Dragon-sama can't casually intercept attacks when its tail is being grabbed by the humanoid decisive weapon Ourc, Ur Idim-shi.
"OOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!"
Ping!! The metallic tail is pulled taut and straight. While forcibly gripping Tomahawk's sharp outer shell with his own equally sturdy carapace, Ur Idim-shi pulls on the tail, but Tomahawk resists.
A brief moment of equilibrium, but sure enough, the fundamental difference in weight proves impossible to overcome. Ur Idim-shi is hoisted up by the tail's muscle strength alone and sent flying forcefully into the air. However, if one person draws its attention, the remaining members can advance a step.
"Go bald, you hair clippers!!"
Rainbow-Light Slashing Flash — compared to Sword of a Hundred Flashes, the maximum cap for hit-count increase is an extremely low 7, but in exchange, the added effect duration and damage bonus make it an attack-enhancing skill capable of pumping out terrifying DPS.
Adding a rainbow trajectory to the purple-flickering blade, I swing Areadbhair at Tomahawk. However, the Blade Dragon thrusts out its sturdy arm... strictly speaking, a particularly thick arm-blade protruding straight out sideways from its arm intercepts Areadbhair.
"Guh."
The fatal weakness of me... or rather, of mid-air techniques, is a weak foothold. Fundamentally, skills that allow mid-air walking grant the soles of your feet a hitbox to step on empty space. This means they are inherently unsuited for the motion of "bracing oneself."
The act of bracing oneself is something that only shows its true worth when there is solid ground beneath you... the earth is important.
In short, a fundamental equilibrium of power simply cannot exist between the sturdy arm of a massive dragon and me doing a mid-air tap dance. I don't have any of the few possibilities that could make it happen on hand either, which means my body is forcefully blown away, but...
"Sorry, but I was planning on a hit-and-away tactic from the start."
Using the skill Relative Three-Dimensional Motion, I draw a circle in the air with a physically impossible trajectory to evade Tomahawk's arm-blade, land on the ground as is, and slash twice with Areadbhair.
We came here fully prepared for a war of attrition. I'm going to let you simmer slowly and carefully until you can't hold your shape anymore, so brace yourself...!
"Now then, let's try a chemistry experiment!"
The role of me, Survival, and Ur Idim-shi is the "strikers"... and the "decoys". Being the strikers who directly beat down the enemy to whittle away their health is the highlight of the vanguard, but at the same time, since we are playing the supporting role of decoys, it means the main cast is standing behind us...!!
"Haha! It's a weapon I can't use in the Sea of Trees, but out here I can fire it to my heart's content! Fire!!"
"It's still the very, very beginning! Don't overdo it, Yashirobird-san! Then I'll go too... 【Un-Removable Flame Cloak】!!"
The flames of a flamethrower unleashed at maximum intensity without a shred of hesitation or restraint, and a cursed garment of fire that covers the dragon's body like a cloak.
Regardless of their fundamental material, they intensely heat up Tomahawk's body—which is superficially metallic—to a degree where the word "warm" would be literally lukewarm.
And one more person,
"...Nfufu, I'll give you the shivers, Vibra-kun... Eighty times output, 【Holy Garment of Mind-Clearing Annihilation】!" [*1]
The heat resistance enhancement magic 【Cooldown Skin】, which was originally branded as a joke spell because its intended use—enduring flames enveloping one's body by lowering the target's surface temperature rather than extinguishing the fire—was far too situational.
But even that is a different story when its output is multiplied by eighty times through the power of the Rod of Actualization, The Desire. It is now repurposed into an absolute-cold shroud of death that instantly chills the surface temperature to below zero degrees, eating away at the internals encased beneath the surface skin or carapace.
"Have you finished your compulsory education, Tomahawk-kun!? This is metal fatigue!!"
Intense heating, intense cooling. When subjected to conflicting extremes of "heat", a substance loses its toughness! I'm not a science major so I don't really get it, but if the rest of the group isn't saying anything, it's probably correct!!
All right, let 'em have it!!
Author's Afterword
DeepSlo: (Sunraku-kun is full of confidence, so it'll probably work out.)
Survival: (I don't really get it, but it'll probably work out.)
Yashirobird: (Flamethrowers are fuuuun! Since it's a game with such great realism, I'd naturally want to use it on a living creature.)
PT Overwerke: (The presence of an all-nighter!!)
Ur Idim: (Doesn't really get it, but assumes they aren't completely devoid of a plan and that there must surely be some meaning to it, so he doesn't interject.)
Strategy, check!
Translator's Notes
- [1] : Spell name has 心頭滅却 which probably references the Zen saying 心頭滅却すれば火もまた涼し ("Clear your mind completely, and even fire becomes cool"). Ironically, it's a cooling spell (and now weaponized).
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